A couples attempt at self-sufficiency and starting a business on a Greek Island. http://www.Aretecrete.com

Autumn Harvest

I remember reading somewhere the definition of Autumn as the season between Summer and Winter, it must be the dullest of definitions for such a glorious season. The Greek word for Autumn is Φθινόπωρο pronounced fthi…no…po…ro, literally translated as the decline of income. The French used to call it Harvest before they and the rest of Europe, adopted the Latin word Autumn a few centuries ago and in America it’s called Fall.

Call it what you will, the Autumn season brings with it various definitions, to different people, in different places, doing different things.

For me personally, back in the UK, it would bring both a sadness of the Summers end and an anticipation of the Autumn fires about to burst through the trees. Mr J and I would often spend a Saturday walking, with Bronwen, through Dog Wood at Westonbirt Arboretum. It was like walking in an oil painting.

Unfortunately for some people, the Autumn is defined as above, the season between Summer and Winter and brings to them the impending doom of another long Winter, followed by the endless complaining of S.A.D sufferers.

Can you get S.A.D for every season or is it exclusively a Winter accessory for the fashion conscious ?

Since living in Crete we’ve noticed that we are much more aware of the seasons, not merely as weather patterns, but more as mother natures menu.

September is the grape harvest, after a long hot Summer the village comes to life with the sound of tractors awoken from their long siesta, loaded with empty crates and steered along an overgrown track to a vineyard, hidden amongst the olive groves. Of the various grapes grown, some are sold for the table and taken to local markets or shops, others are crushed in large concrete baths or simply trod on to produce next years vintage.

October brings the village stills to life, fired up like an old steam engine they boil away for 12 hours a day, exuding the firewater drip by drip, distilling the well know and well feared, Tskoudhia (Raki), from the last of the grape harvest.

November fails to bring the slumber before Winters sleep, instead, the buzz and whirl of the olive pickers poles can be heard across the valley, thrashing through the leaves, steadily rising every day as the villagers slowly migrate to the olive groves. A process that begins in November and continues through Winter and into March, when once again the lanes and groves are silent.

By far the brightest colour of Autumn is that of ripe Oranges, plump and juicy, plucked from a tree whilst out walking they are the best you’ll ever taste. It’s the perfect walkers thirst quencher, so juicy in comparison to the Supermarket bought oranges I remember back in the UK.

And of course Lemons, a burst of yellow around every corner, in every garden. They are, along with Olive oil, a staple part of the Cretan diet, freshly squeezed onto everything, they truly are the taste of Crete.